Monday, November 10, 2008

Midterm Progress

Hello all, the semester has become increasingly busy - for myself and the students at YPSH. Two weeks ago Ms. Papke handed my students their current grades including all of the assignments, their grades, and what was missing. The day was needless to say, extremely hectic. The majority of the students were not doing very well at all. One of the most disconcerting observations I made that day - and I beleive Ms. Papke already knew - was that the majority of these "failing" students were very smart. Most of them had done very well on their graded homework; however, these among these same students they all seemed to have trouble turning in assignments. I was also surprised by the amount of students who seemed to have no idea why they were failing and were not happy with the result. I spent the majority of that day - this was a make up day - comforting many students and trying to convey to them that they had plenty of time to fix their grade. I remember saying - "you're doing pretty well if you can turn some of these items in, you just have to start knocking away at this "to-do" list" or "here, start with this project, its not too hard and if you can turn in some of these project you have 0's on you will be just fine." I think many of these students - once past being overwhelmed - took the day to heart and worked diligently through the hour. There is always an exception though - a few students seemed to be turned off by their lack of success and failed to seize the opportunity to turn in work they had previously failed to hand in. I will find out tomorrow how many of these students were able to save their midterm grade.

1 comment:

Amanda was experiencing a similar situation (detailed in her blog) in her class. She found that students have potential to perform well, they just need a little nudge or two at times. So keep nudging the students to complete these assignments while they still have time and I'm confident that it will make a difference.

Amanda also noted that students appreciate your presence and assistance whether they acknowledge your for it or not.